We’ve just released on our website the “US GAP Report”. This study is based on the results from a survey that shows that the online presence gap is widening between smaller, independent hotels and larger hotel chains in the US. The survey was conducted by GuestCentric in February 2008 and 300 hotels located in the US were polled showing dramatic differences in terms of leveraging their online websites to book consumer and business travel online between independent hotels with less than 80 rooms and branded chain hotels.

This gap is revealed in all of the main aspects analyzed in this survey: website and ability to receive online reservations, presence on internet distribution systems and average occupancy rate.

The content of this report was widely publicized due to the nature of the numbers, where for instance, the GAP between independents and chains regarding having a booking engine on their website stands above the 50% mark.

in the next couple of weeks we will release the “Independent Hotels and the Online Channel”, UK and Spain Reports, so stay tuned.